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RELIGIOUS  DESTITUTION  IN  A 
“CHRISTIAN  COUNTRY** 

From  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Nutting, 
Secretary  of  the  Utah  Gospel  Mission 
of  Cleveland,  January,  1907 

A few  facts  may  help  to  realize  the  religious  n*ed 
of  the  region  where  we  labor,  though  nothing  less  than 
a long  and  thoughtful  experience  there  can  enable  any 
one  to  appreciate  it  fully. 

First,  note  the  number  of  destitute  settlements.  In 
our  work  we  have  thus  far  visited  about  450  places, 
ranging  in  population  from  a few  dozen  up  to  65,000. 
Practically  every  one  of  these  has  its  regular  Mormon 
services,  with  all  the  anti-Christian  features  which  the 
term  implies.  But  only  about  no  have  any  Christian 
work,  leaving  about  340  which  have  none!  And  to  this 
latter  number  must  be  added  about  fifty  more  places 
which  we  have  not  yet  reached,  making  in  all  NEARLY 


FOUR  HUNDRED  PLACES  ENTIRELY  DESTI- 
TUTE OF  CHRISTIAN  WORK,  in  Utah,  eastern 
Idaho  and  western  Wyoming  alone!  We  often  call  this 
a Christian  country;  but  there  are  some  things  which 
we  should  always  remember  in  doing  so ! Between 
July  and  November,  1906,  we  visited  about  92  of  these 
450  places,  finding  only  about  a dozen  with  any  Chris- 
tian work,  and  eighty  without ! — all  in  eastern  Idaho 
and  the  edge  of  Wyoming.  Of  these  eighty,  about  six- 
teen had  500  or  more  people,  one  had  1,500  and  one 


2,000! 


Second,  let  us  try  to  gauge  the  case  by  distances. 
The  writer  once  traveled  about  225  miles,  in  the  most 
direct  line  possible  between  two  places,  passing  through 
22  settlements,  in  not  one  of  which  was  there  so  much 
as  a Christian  Sabbath-school;  and  the  same  journey 
now  would  better  this  record  only  by  one  small  Sunday- 
school  and  preaching  service.  Another  of  our  wagons 
once  visited  the  settlements  in  nine  hundred  miles  of 
route,  eighty-five  in  number,  taking  about  ten  months ; 
in  hardly  more  than  a dozen  of  which  was  there  any 
Christian  work.  This  trip  was  all  in  Utah. 

Again,  measure  by  time.  Scores  of  these  villages 
have  been  settled  forty,  fifty  or  more  years.  The 
writer  has  in  mind  a typical  one,  settled  about  forty- 
eight  years  ago,  now  having  between  three  and  four  hun- 


dred  people,  all  Mormons.  It  has  had  just  FIVE 
Christian  services,  in  the  forty-eight  years,  and  we  have 
given  them  these — they  having  been  over  forty  years 
•without  a single  Christian  service! 

Again,  measure  by  population.  Not  less  than  ioo,- 
ooo  people  in  Utah  alone,  taking  the  figures  of  the  last 
census,  which  are  now  often  too  small,  live  in  these 
destitute  places;  and  about  25,000  more  are  in  eastern 
Idaho,  taking  the  populations  as  we  found  them  re- 
cently. And  as  the  Mormon  people  will  not  usually 
attend  Christian  church  services  when  they  do  have 
them,  all  told  there  are  probably  nearly  300,000  Mor- 
mons, besides  many  others,  who  are  practically  never 
seen  inside  of  church  doors  and  who  must  conse- 
quently be  reached  by  some  other  method  if  at  all.  All 
are  bound  for  the  same  eternity  to  which  we  travel, 
and  need  just  the  same  blessed  gospel  light  and  life 
as  much  as  we,  and  are  receiving  practically  nothing  of 
the  kind  from  any  other  outside  source  but  our  work. 
Have  we  not  an  immeasurably  important  duty  in  such 
a case? 

If  the  reader  has  a child,  let  him  now  try  and  pic- 
ture the  difference  between  it  with  all  the  Christian 
advantages  it  has  had,  and  the  same  child  as  it  would  be 
had  it  been  brought  in  one  of  the  places  where  so  many 
thousands  of  other  children  are  living — with  nothing 
but  dank,  dark,  Mormon,  semi-pagan  teaching,  never 
a Christian  sermon,  Sabbath-school,  home  paper,  book 
or  friend — all  they  have  is  saturated  through  and 
through  with  these  terribly  false  ideas  of  God  and  man 
and  woman  and  duty  and  morals  and  the  home!  Imag- 
ine the  child  grown  up  thus,  if  we  can; — how  awful  it 
is  to  think  of  our  dear  ones  in  such  a plight!  Almost 
any  Christian  would  rather  that  his  child  had  never 
been  born ! But  scores  of  thousands  of  other  people’s 
children  have  been  born  into  just  that  condition,  and 
are  living  there  to-day,  so  saturated  with  the  evil  re- 
sults of  the  system  that  both  they  and  their  parents  are 
entirely  unconscious  of  its  evil  and  believe  it  to  be  the 
only  true  religion ! 

The  only  thing  which  seems  feasible  to  do  for  them 
at  present,  in  most  cases,  is  to  go  to  them  about  as  the 
Utah  Gospel  Mission  is  going,  as  often  as  is  wise  and 
as  wisely  and  lovingly  as  we  can,  sowing  the  good 
seed  which  by  the  power  of  God  shall  bye  and  bye  spring 
into  an  abundant  harvest. 


Incidents  of  Our  Work 


1 asked  a Mormon  lady:  “Have  you  a Bible  in  the 
house?"  She  answered,  “Yes,  somewhere  in  the  house, 
but  it  hasn’t  been  opened  in  a year  that  I know  of." 

One  Mormon  woman  said  to  me,  in  talking  about 
the  Bible:  “If  I wuz  ter  read  the  Bible  ev’ry  day  I’d 
go  clean  crazy.  It’d  send  anybody  crazy.  A lot  of  it 
is  too  foolish  to  be  true  anyway.  It’s  not  in  it  with 
the  Book  of  Mormon.” 

There  are  many  infidels  in  this  town ; probably  al- 
most half  the  population.  One  hopeful  case  I can  re- 
port; one  woman  not  believing  in  either  God  nor  the 
Bible,  promised  to  ask  God  to  show  her  the  truth. 
As  she  was  sincere  in  her  desire  to  know  the  truth,  I 
believe  God  will  convince  her. 

The  words  of  a Mormon  woman  after  the  missionary 
had  explained  that  good  works  should  be  works  of  grati- 
tude for  God’s  wonderful  love,  rather  than  attempting 
to  be  works  of  merit  to  pay  for  salvation : “Wall,  I 
guess  it’s  a fact  that  if  a person  really  do  give  up  to 
Christ  it  ain’t  no  trick  to  do  the  works.  And  it  do 
seem  nat’ral  that  God  would  be  more  pleased  with  our 
works  out  of  love  for  Him  than  work  done  for  some- 
thing we  were  ’spectin’  to  git." 

An  old  Danish  woman,  82  years  old.  “Why,  your 
God  is  not  my  God.  I believe  in  many  gods;  but  there 
is  the  only  one  god  I worship  and  pray  to!”  “Who  is 
he?”  I asked.  “Adam.  I pray  to  Adam  when  1 pray 
night  and  morning.  He  created  this  world  and  came 
here  from  another  planet.  The  Ancient  of  Days  is 
Adam.  Michael  is  Noah.  Noah  is  resurrected.  Jesus 
is  the  son  of  Adam.  There  is  a father  and  a mother 
god !” — these  were  some  of  her  statements ; and  all  are 
genuine  Mormon  doctrine. 

A Danish  woman  joined  the  Mormons  when  she  was 
a girl,  leaving  home  and  emigrating  to  Utah.  She 
apostatized  years  ago,  and  is  now  an  avowed  infidel. 
She  told  how  she  became  a Mormon,  and  the  trouble 
she  caused  in  her  home.  While  talking  with  me  she 
would  curse  and  cry;  when  I read  the  Bible  she  would 
curse  it  and  say  “It  is  not  reasonable;  I can’t  believe;” 
she  would  make  fun  of  Christ,  and  say  there  was  noth- 
ing in  it  at  all.  This  is  the  most  pitiful  case  I evei 
dealt  with. 

A Mormon  bishop’s  daughter:  “No,  I am  not  a mem- 
ber of  the  church.  This  life  ends  all.  There  is  no 
salvation  for  a woman,  and  a woman  is  nothing  in  the 
church.  I am  a bishop’s  daughter  and  1 know.”  This 
woman  swore  several  times  while  I talked  with  her. 
She  asked  me  questions  about  the  hereafter,  and  seemed 


i-pressed  hefehaft?ldb0seUed 

Mormon  idea  of  *hat  if  we  have  a perpe- 

S 3 <Ke  >U'  we’  will  have  to  toko  our  pas- 
sions  over  womans  account  of  how  the  re- 
ceived her  “testimony”  taj 

monism  is  true).  She  h.  and  so  of  course 

SSSSfeiflwS 

hunting  eggs  in  the  ta'M  h [ d about  ,t.  Her 

l“lPT«ked°nh  r to  go  o 'inference  with  him.  and 
husband  asked  ner  to  g whose  profile 

suggested [that  she  ^TsweaV  stand  out 

experiences  in  Mormonism,  and  how  sorry  she  »a 
that  she  had  joined  ll_  whom  we  know 

the'  cfTansitig  of  our  sins;  it 

pel  alone  that  can  save  us.  By  this  he  mea  . 

the  ordinance  of  bapt, am  In*” “Momin  doc. 

alone  can  wash  away  sin  , ^ n after  living 

^ea»h«!l^^-^r 

ssrsyrsA  °f  MOT°"i!"  >hrous,’o”,' 


Send  10c  for  packet  of  best  literature  on  Mormonism. 
aena  r ori,  cf  the  Mission 

;:^"d^r,urJ^ihuS-kh 

worker  tor.  year.  Address  ^ NUTT)NC 

1854  E.  81st  Steet 


